Raiffeisen Bank International AG Buys 1,539 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,835 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,539 shares during the quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,471,152,000 after buying an additional 2,797,562 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at about $85,075,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,664,000 after acquiring an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,081,000 after acquiring an additional 475,484 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 38,589.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 451,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $71,444,000 after purchasing an additional 450,723 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WSM. Weiss Ratings lowered Williams-Sonoma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $199.94.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $181.03 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $193.46 and its 200-day moving average is $182.57. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.07 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $22.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total transaction of $3,563,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,066,816. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 114,153 shares of company stock valued at $22,901,008 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Profile

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.